What are drugs? Summary of their characteristics and effects

Let's see what drugs are and what their social and health implications are.

The term "drugs" is widely used because this class of substances is a reality in the face of which it is difficult to remain totally ignorant.

However, not everyone knows exactly what a drug is and what are the implications of the existence of these products. Here we will explain in a summarized way what drugs are and what effects they can have..

What is a drug?

The term "drug" in Spanish, has several meanings, but in the context of the medicine and the sciences of the health it serves to refer to psychoactive substances, i.e., those that have the potential to interact with our nerve cells resulting in significant changes in our mental and behavioral processes. in our mental and behavioral processes.

Specifically, on most occasions it is used to refer to psychoactive substances that are used without therapeutic purposes, whether in a recreational and leisure context, in situations in which the aim is to generate altered states of consciousness in religious rituals, or for any other purpose other than improving the state of health of the user (something that differentiates this term from "drugs" used in English, which is also used to refer to psychotropic drugs).

On the other hand, it is necessary to point out that this definition of a drug as a psychoactive substance whose use is totally or partially unrelated to medicine is far from airtight or infallible: there are aspects that lend themselves to ambiguity. An indication of this is what we have seen: the fact that some people understand that a drug is any psychoactive element, and that for others it is only a part of these, those that do not serve to solve health problems and are not used in a medical context (i.e., under the supervision of health professionals).

And the fact is that there are psychotropic drugs that are used in treatments for patients and at the same time are an illegal drug in the recreational context, as is the case, for example, with codeine.as is the case, for example, with codeine. And it is also true that there is no clear line of separation between what serves to improve health and what serves simply to enhance the well-being of a person at a given moment. After all, many psychotropic drugs are sometimes used only to alleviate the symptoms of illnesses, i.e. to "reduce" a certain form of discomfort.

But beyond the terminological and conceptual debates, it cannot be denied that a large number of the substances that are considered drugs have enormous harmful potential. that a large number of substances that are considered drugs have an enormous potential for harm to health, so much so that beyond being problems for the individuals who use them, they constitute social problems. for health, so much so that beyond constituting problems for the individuals who consume them, they constitute social problems.

For example, alcohol consumption is closely linked to the high mortality rate due to traffic accidents, just as many drugs in general (including ethanol) are conducive to domestic violence, the emergence of other diseases (some of them contagious, such as AIDS), and even the emergence of other forms of addiction that occur in parallel in the same person.

This is why it is very important both to prevent the use of potentially harmful drugs and to know how to detect the first signs of addiction at an early stage. to know how to detect in time the first signs that the consumption of a drug is affecting the person.not only through structural physical symptoms in the human body, but mainly through psychological symptoms, which occur before.

What are the effects of these substances?

As the definition of "drug" is very broad, there is no set of emotional, cognitive, physiological and behavioral effects that is common to this group of substances. However, most commonly produce changes in mood and/or state of consciousness, and in some cases, they may produce changes in mood and/or state of consciousness, and in some cases, they may produce changes in mood and/or state of consciousness.In some cases, they can give rise to delusional thoughts or even hallucinations.

Many of them can also produce chemical addiction, that is, changes in the brain (when interacting with it) that make our entire nervous system work to continue obtaining rations of that psychoactive molecule.

Are all drugs addictive?

Technically, not all substances that are considered drugs have a significant addictive potential..

An example of this can be found, for example, in psilocybin, an alkaloid present in what we usually know as hallucinogenic mushrooms, or in caffeine (the consumption of beverages containing this last substance can generate a certain dependence, but not at the level of brain modification that occurs with many hard drugs and psychotropic drugs, but rather due to its taste and the habit of drinking in certain contexts).

However, while it is good to know that drugs are not the same as addiction, it should not be forgotten that there are addictions without the need to consume drugs. there are addictions without the need to use drugs, as is the case, for example, withThis is the case, for example, with pathological gambling, which occurs in those who become addicted to certain games of chance involving gambling.

To what extent is drug use common?

The use and development of drugs is a reality that has existed since the beginning of mankind, to the point that it was already present in nomadic tribes before the appearance of the first settlements and villages.The use and development of drugs is a reality that has existed since the beginning of humanity, to the point that it already existed in nomadic tribes before the appearance of the first settlements and towns. That is why it is not surprising the degree of influence that these products have in the societies of practically the whole world, and the massification of their consumption.

In fact, the economy linked to the sale and purchase of drugs rivals the power of the States and escapes their control, and even in the case of legal drugs such as alcoholic beverages, their use has been and is so normalized that their legal status does not depend on their harmful potential, but on the practical problems that their illegalization would have for any country.

Thus, the most widely consumed drugs worldwide are products that are relatively easy to find in almost any city, and are as follows:

• Alcohol
• Tobacco
• Cannabis
• Cocaine
• MDMA

Are you interested in starting a treatment process for drug addiction and addiction?

If you suffer from a drug addiction problem, contact us to start a treatment process through detoxification and rehabilitation with experts in this field. At CITA Clinics we specialize in professional support for people with substance and non-substance addictions, and we offer both therapy sessions from psychology and medicine as well as the possibility of admission to our fully equipped residential module located in a natural environment, in the Barcelona area.

Bibliographical references:

• American Psychiatric Association (APA). (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.
• Kalivas, P.W.; Volkow, N.D. (2005). The neural basis of addiction: a pathology of motivation and choice. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 162(8): pp. 1403 - 1413.
• Lingeman, R. R. (1974). Drugs from A-Z: A Dictionary. Nueva York: McGraw-Hill.
• Mahoney A, Evans J (6 November 2008). "Comparing drug classification systems". AMIA Annual Symposium Proceedings: 1039.
• Nutt, D.J; King, L.A; Phillips, L.D. (2010). Drug harms in the UK: a multicriteria decision analysis. The Lancet. 376(9752): pp. 1558 - 1565.
• Sànchez Turet, Miquel (1991). Drogodependencias: aspectos terminológicos y taxonómicos. Anuario de Psicología, Universitat de Barcelona, 49: pp. 5 - 18.
• Shader, R.I.; Divoll, M., Harmatz, J.S. (1981). Benzodiazepines: a summary of pharmacokinetic properties. British journal of clinical pharmacology.